


A Form of Closure

by corgasbord



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, M/M, Spoilers, for chapter 5 specifically, this is not a happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-24 20:12:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10748970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corgasbord/pseuds/corgasbord
Summary: [MAJOR NDRV3 SPOILERS WITHIN]Kokichi and Kaito finally come to an understanding.





	A Form of Closure

**Author's Note:**

> school has been kicking my ass, but i got hit with the Angst™ bug and decided to write this little piece. it's based off of a rather independent interpretation of the events that occurred before ouma's murder. which i'm sure has been done to death at this point, but whatever. enjoy the sad
> 
> ([tumblr](http://corgiboard.tumblr.com/post/160070094040/a-form-of-closure) link)

If there’s one thing Kokichi can pride himself on, it’s his ability to craft intricate plans in a pinch. Ideally, he wouldn’t be doing it while his organs are shutting down, but things can’t always work out in his favor, can they?

(The image of a gorgeous boy with dark hair and eyes more piercing than he’d ever seen them, eyes full of hatred for him, comes to mind. He shakes it away and focuses on the matter at hand.)

“Got all of that, Momota-chan?”

Kaito is gritting his teeth, eyes trained on one of several bloodstains on the otherwise polished tile. “I still don't like it.”

“You don't have to like it. In fact, your opinion here is pretty much irrelevant!” Kokichi chirps, grinning to offset the burning in his blood. “I mean, I guess the choice is yours in the end, but I'm sure you've realized it by now, too- that this is the only shot we have at trapping the mastermind.”

“Tch.” Kaito grimaces in lieu of a verbal answer, but that says enough. He knows Kokichi is right - and of course he is, why wouldn’t he be? He’s planned everything so carefully up to this point, even his own death. Maki just ensured that it would happen a little sooner than he’d anticipated, that’s all.

“Aw, cheer up, Momota-chan! We won’t be there to see it, but after this, everyone else will get to live happily ever after,” Kokichi drawls. “That’s what you’ve been fighting for so desperately all this time, right?”

“Don’t fuckin’ make fun of me,” Kaito spits, his words as potent as the poison in Kokichi’s veins. “You still haven’t told me what happens if this doesn’t work.”

Kokichi smiles again, coy and close-lipped. “Hmm. Who knows? I’m not a fortune teller.”

Then he unties his scarf, continuing in spite of the effort speaking requires. “But I wouldn’t worry about that. You _do_ trust Saihara-chan and the others to figure out the mastermind anyway, right?”

“Of course I do. If anyone can figure out the mastermind, it’s Shuuichi,” Kaito scoffs. “But… he could also be the reason this doesn’t work. He’s always one step ahead of you, y’know.”

“Maybe so.” With shaking fingers, Kokichi starts to unbutton on his ruined jacket. It’s nearly soaked through with blood and sweat at this point, so he has to peel it off before letting it puddle at his feet. “Either way, you don’t really have time to be rationalizing this right now, do you? The clock is ticking- for both of us.”

Kaito’s fists clench at his sides, and Kokichi smirks. He knows what Kaito is going to say before the other boy even opens his mouth to reply.

“Fine. I get it.”

He won’t look at Kokichi, probably out of some childish desire to cling to whatever remains of his pride. There isn’t a doubt in Kokichi’s mind that Kaito’s agreement is partially meant to pay off a moral debt of some kind - which is absolutely absurd, of course. Kaito would have died whether or not Kokichi gave him the antidote, and they both understand that. The antidote is only delaying the inevitable, stoking a dying flame.

But Kaito always did like to stick to his principles. That was part of what made him so predictable, so _boring_.

Then again, it was also what made him a hero in everyone else’s eyes. In Shuuichi’s eyes, the same eyes that had regarded Kokichi like he was chewed up gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe. Kokichi wonders how many tears those eyes will shed for Kaito.

(He doesn't have to wonder how many tears will get shed over his own demise.)

“It's settled, then-” Kokichi starts, only to be cut off by a sharp, wet cough. He brings a hand to his mouth to muffle it, and when he pulls it away he dimly notes that his palm is dripping fresh crimson. _Huh._

Then he looks up and sees Kaito watching him, alarm written all over his features. Amused, Kokichi just flashes his red-stained teeth in response and says, “Looks like that's our cue to get moving.”

His body holds out for as long as it takes him to climb the steps to the control panel, to set up the camera, to activate the hydraulic press before stopping it at just the right moment, to descend the steps again, to begin his wobbly walk to his deathbed. Then his vision begins to blur, and the world begins to tilt slightly.

Before he realizes what’s happening, there's a solid warmth pressing against his side, keeping him from collapsing. Dizzily, Kokichi looks up at Kaito as Kaito wraps an arm around him, steadying him. “Shit- take it easy, man.”

Kokichi rasps out a laugh. “My, Momota-chan, that's so gentlemanly of you! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're starting to care about me a little!”

“Don't go getting the wrong idea,” Kaito huffs. “I'm not doing this because I care about you. I'm doing it ‘cause I care about everyone else.”

“Wow, so noble!” Kokichi hums as he drapes an arm around Kaito’s shoulders to hold himself up. “You really are a hero, you know? Like… like a protagonist ripped straight from one of Shirogane-chan’s shounen anime.”

“What the hell are you going on about now?” 

“And,” Kokichi continues with a crooked smile, ignoring him, “I'll bet that just like those guys, you're feeling pity for the villain right about now. They always do in the end.”

Kaito’s lip curls. “Just shut up,” he grumbles, shuffling towards the press with Kokichi still leaning on him heavily.

And Kokichi does shut up, if only because walking without succumbing to the poison requires most of his concentration. _One foot in front of the other, easy as pie_ , he thinks. _This is the final stretch. Just a little farther, now- you can’t fall here._

His head tips down to watch his steps, and he hazily registers the blood smearing on the concrete beneath his feet. He’d been so focused on the plan that he’d forgotten for a few minutes that he’s still bleeding - slower now, to match his heartbeat.

_That’s right. I’m dying._ He had already known this, had _planned_ for this, but the weight of that understanding is only just now sinking in. He imagines that this feeling must be kind of like voluntarily going skydiving and only realizing how scared you are seconds before you jump - but worse, because he doesn’t have a parachute.

_I’m going to die. I’m going to die. In a few minutes, I won’t exist anymore, because I’ll be dead. Crushed. Erased. Nothing will be left of me. I’m going to become nothing._

They come to a stop in front of the press, and Kokichi tries to convince himself that his shaking is due to fatigue. Pretending comes more easily to him than breathing, after all, and even more so when breathing is almost too painful to manage.

He looks up at Kaito through lidded eyes and waits for his face to come into focus before speaking. “You remember everything that comes after this, right?”

“Yeah,” Kaito says, looking almost as sick as Kokichi feels. “I-I've just gotta tamper with the crime scene a little, get the camera, take control of the Exisal, and then do my damnedest to confuse the hell out of everyone. Right?”

“That’s the gist of it!” Kokichi says. “You may not be as dumb as you look, after all.” Then he hesitates, but the next time he opens his mouth all that comes out is another cough, and then another, causing blood to bubble at his lips. Dark spots dance in the corners of his vision, just for a moment. Through it all, Kaito holds him steady, like Kokichi hadn’t just insulted him.

“Are you-” he starts, then stops suddenly, not finishing the question. Kokichi guesses that Kaito’s next word was “okay,” which would have been unbelievably stupid. _I’m dying, you fucking moron, does it look like I’m okay?_

(But then, was he ever really okay to begin with?)

Deciding not to address that, Kokichi says, “It’s all up to you, Momota-chan. I’m trusting you to take care of everything for me, okay?”

Kaito nods, swallowing audibly. “Yeah. Got it.”

“Good.” Kokichi takes a deep, rattling breath. “Then… one last thing, before you see me off.”

Kaito frowns warily. “What is it?”

“The next time you see Saihara-chan… I need you to give him something for me.”

“You wanna give Shuuichi something?” Kaito echoes, incredulous. “What do you even have left to give?” 

Kokichi reaches up, curling his fingers in the fabric of Kaito’s shirt. “A message.”

It’s a good thing that Kaito is already hunched over to support him, because that means there’s less space between them to close, and less effort spent on doing so. He can put his remaining energy into kissing Kaito, mashing their lips together with all of the clumsy desperation that one would expect from a boy who’s half-dead and delirious.

There’s nothing romantic about it, and not just because they’re both bloody and on their last legs. Kokichi’s wasting his first kiss on a boy he doesn’t care about, because he knows he’ll never get a shot with the one he wants.

(He wonders if the two of them are thinking of the same boy in this moment. That would be one of the only things they’ve ever agreed on.)

He breaks it seconds later, grip on Kaito’s collar loosening, and hopes that the shaky grin plastered to his face will mask how empty he feels. Kaito is regarding him with a kind of disgusted awe, and for a long few moments, he's uncharacteristically silent.

“... You're fucked up, you know that?” he finally says, but his voice lacks its usual bite. 

“But at least I wasn't boring, was I?” Past tense, because he's dead to the world at this point.

“I guess that’s one way to put it,” Kaito snorts. There’s no humor in it. Kokichi notes how tired he sounds, like he just wants it to be over.

And he understands, so he taps Kaito’s chest and says as cheerfully as he can, “I’m ready now.”

Kaito nods, not saying anything. He doesn’t need to. As he helps Kokichi onto the press with an unprecedented gentleness, spreading his jacket out beneath him, Kokichi thinks that they’ve come to an understanding of sorts. They’ll never like or even respect each other, but it doesn’t matter, because their end goal is the same. They both have people they want to protect, and they’ve already forfeited their lives to this cruel game.

By the time Kaito pulls away from him, Kokichi can feel his extremities going numb. The smile hasn’t left his face, though, and he casts it in Kaito’s direction, lifting his hand to wave him off limply.

“See you on the other side, Momota-chan.” Those are his last words; his final lie. Kaito is destined to sleep among the stars he loves so dearly, while Kokichi’s actions have bought him a one-way ticket to hell.

When Kaito turns away, Kokichi catches him absentmindedly wiping at his mouth, an inexplicably sad look in his eyes. Ah, there it is: the pity that he’d accused him of feeling earlier. Kaito really is predictable. _Foolish_.

Perhaps not quite as foolish as Kokichi, though.

Sluggishly, he closes his eyes, like he’s simply going to sleep. And he supposes that he is, in a way. He’s just not going to wake up. That would almost be sad, if he were someone like Kaito, someone people could love - someone Shuuichi could love.

But he isn’t, so it’s not sad at all. In fact, he feels absolutely nothing.

That’s what he tells himself, over and over again until it’s all he can hear, until it drowns out the low hum of machinery starting up around him, until he finally relaxes-

Until it becomes true.

**Author's Note:**

> anyway have i mentioned that chapter 5 still really fucks me up


End file.
